


Trials of the Swan

by NojusAmber



Category: Destiny (Video Games)
Genre: Denial of Feelings, Eventual Smut, M/M, Pining, Romance, Slow Burn, Vulnerability
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-18
Updated: 2021-01-18
Packaged: 2021-03-17 02:08:45
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,158
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28841409
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NojusAmber/pseuds/NojusAmber
Summary: Idun Svanur is a talented young Warlock with too many ambitions that have caused him to lose more than he has won. When a newly-released Crow asks Idun to aid him on his personal quest to become a proper Guardian, Idun must confront and make peace with his past, his confidence and his own conflicted emotions regarding his friend and student.
Relationships: Crow/Male Guardian, Crow/Male OC, Male Guardian/Uldren Sov, Uldren Sov/Male OC
Comments: 1
Kudos: 19





	Trials of the Swan

As a Guardian, Idun had seen many different sunsets in many different places. He had witnessed the dark twilights of Io, illuminated only by the rapidly swirling gas spirals of Jupiter. He had seen the complete blackness that fell upon one half of Mercury as the other was violently washed in waves of fiery sunlight. Most recently, he had observed the quiet early dusks of Europa’s constant eclipses, denying the already scarce warmth to the desolate moon. He was a frequent bystander to the silvery hue of the Sun as it illuminated the dusty plains of the Tangled Shore, and how the very same star filled the celestial vault of the Dreaming City with rainbows and mirages.  
And yet, the way in which the stars appeared slowly on that pink and purple sky over the European Dead Zone, as if each one said goodbye to the waning orange light that dissipated from the horizon to break dawn somewhere else on Earth, entranced Idun like few things could.  
He listened closely to the rustle of the leaves, the constant gusts making the trees that surrounded them sing, and he felt the same currents disheveling his long white hair. It was cold, but not as cold as Idun had initially expected. Or, perhaps he had already grown too accustomed to worse climates.  
Crow, on the other hand, didn't seem to mind the sky, or the weather, or the trees or anything else for that matter. His attention was fixed on lighting the bonfire that the wind insisted on putting out.  
It had been a pleasant surprise to both Lightbearers when they returned to this already familiar glade and found that the ashes of their previous nocturnal celebration shortly after the reforging of Hawkmoon had remained almost untouched. It gave this place, in particular, a rare, joyful, and carefree sort of symbolism, and the relighting of the campfire in the same spot seemed only fitting for what could become a tradition between them.  
But in spite of all this, and the motive of their return, Idun could see that Crow was getting frustrated with the flame not staying long enough in the kindle to spread, consuming itself instead of the wood they had collected. He heard a loud mix of a grunt and a sigh from his fellow Awoken.  
“Well...this is harder than usual,” Idun overheard Glint comment with that constant hint of cheerfulness he spoke with.  
“It’s impossible!” Crow exclaimed with frustration, “At this point, it would be easier to do it underwater.”  
Idun turned away from the trees to look at Crow kneeling close to the still untouched firewood, holding close a tinderstick that would need replacing soon.  
“Want me to help?” he offered with a slight grin. Both Crow and him knew where this was going. He had made the suggestion before, but Crow had refused for reasons that Idun could not pinpoint.  
Crow looked up at him with a raised brow before expelling an exhale of defeat and getting up.  
“Fine, do your thing,” he said quietly as he rubbed off some of the dirt from his knees with his hands.  
Idun’s grin turned into a smirk. He extended his hand and sensed the warmth emanating from it as he produced three balls of flame that landed neatly on the wood, igniting it immediately and illuminating part of the glade with a golden aura, exiling the chill of the early spring.  
Crow didn’t seem too impressed.  
“You just wanted to show off, didn’t you?” He crossed his arms over his chest “You sure love displaying how quickly you can swipe between elements. You do it during hunts too”  
“Not really, it’s not like I am the only Warlock who can do it,” Idun pointed out, sitting down with legs crossed on a rock close to the fire, the same spot he had taken in their previous night outing.  
“He absolutely wanted to show off,” Vegvísir said as she materialized beside her Guardian.  
Crow let out a small, dry chuckle, picking up the bottle he had brought and removing the dirt with his cloak.  
“I wonder what would have happened…” a ‘pop’ sound emanated from the bottle when Crow uncorked it “If I had used a Golden Gun on it.”  
“Most likely, you would have several holes in the ground,” Glint answered and Crow shook his head.  
“I don’t get it. Isn’t Solar Light just…” he took a small swig from the bottle and then offered it to the Warlock. “You know...fire?”  
Idun grabbed the alcohol and brought it to his face to take a closer look. There were no labels or engravings that described the content, and the colour of the liquid was hard to tell.  
“Well yes, technically it is.” Idun answered, side glancing at Crow for an instant “But it also isn’t. Light on itself manifests in many different ways, but it’s still Light.” He drank a little bit and was immediately met with a strange, eclectic flavour that was somewhere between vinegar and rancid fruit that wasn’t native to the Earth. He grimaced and shook his head.  
Crow smiled. “Terrible, isn’t it?”  
“Awful,” Idun replied with disgust, handling the bottle back. “Didn’t you say this was wine?”  
“No, I said it was some sort of wine. I got it from an Eliksni shipment that Spider told me to look into when he suspected they had stolen his goods. Stolen or not, he confiscated the shipment. The wine was included but not even Spider seemed to want it so he gave it to me.” Crow gulped down some of the 'wine", he was clearly more used to the Eliksni palette than Idun “He called it a gift.”  
“Ironic.” Idun pointed out, following Crow with his eyes when he sat down next to him. “That this is what we are drinking now.”  
Crow peered down the neck of the bottle.  
“Hm, now that you mention it…”  
“And given what just happened, I don’t believe it’s safe to drink from it,” Vegvísir said cautiously and made a small chirp of disapproval when Crow drank again.  
“Poison is not Spider’s way. If he wanted me dead, he would have been more…” Crow shrugged “direct, I suppose”  
“What does poison really do to a Guardian anyway? Spider is not stupid, Vísi” Idun told his Ghost with an amused expression.  
“I know! I know! But there is no harm in being cautious, right?”  
“I agree!” Glint intervened, hovering closer to his Guardian “But I guess we could relax now, at least for a little bit. Let me tell you, I feel much lighter without those...things inside my shell”  
Crow gave his own Ghost a smile. “I am also glad you don’t have to carry that any longer.” He continued to drink.  
Idun took that quiet moment to contemplate Crow’s face. He had his hood down for once. It allowed his delicate features to be illuminated by the fire in front of them. Idun couldn’t help but notice that Crow’s lips were slightly wet from the “wine” that had touched them.  
“Can I be honest?” Crow spoke, taking Idun out of his brief, shallow trance.  
“Is there any moment in which you are not?” The warlock replied playfully.  
“Of course, when I am lying” Crow laughed, albeit weakly “But, I am serious...I...I was afraid for you, when we were in Spider’s Lair”  
“You? Afraid?”  
“I could swear Spider wouldn’t let me go, no matter what I or anyone said or did, he really enjoyed me as his 'little bird' ” He lifted his gaze to look at Idun directly with an ever so slight smile “I...I didn’t expect at all that you would ask for...me as your reward”  
Idun raised both eyebrows.  
“Were you so surprised?” He leaned forward “Tell me, what would a person like me do with any of the garbage in Spider’s Lair?”  
“Does the ‘garbage’ include me?” Crow inquired teasingly.  
“You know damn well that the answer is no” He nudged him, causing the other to grin.  
“Still,” Crow drank a bit from the bottle and offered it to Idun “I didn’t expect it to work”  
Idun took the 'wine', to his own surprise. It wasn’t any better when he tasted it again, but he assumed that Crow was not drinking it for the flavour and neither should he.  
“You said you were…” He muttered and then drank a bit more “Afraid for me?”  
Crow nodded.  
“I know what Spider is capable of, I saw it...many times...” Crow took a stick from the ground and poked at the fire absent-mindedly, like trying to distract himself from his own memories. “I know he took offense when you found a loophole in his deal, even if he did keep his word”  
“There weren’t any loopholes” Idun contended. “He said that I could have _anything_ from his lair. You were in his lair. Seems pretty straightforward to me.”  
“I think Crow was right to be at least suspicious, Idun” Glint intervened “Personally, I was more afraid for myself and for Crow there…”  
“Understandably so” Idun agreed, nodding once “But, believe me. Have you seen me use Stasis? I would have turned his ass into a popsicle before he even tried anything”  
Crow laughed. Idun deeply enjoyed his laughter. It was so uncommon that Idun struggled at times to remember how it sounded, but when it did, it was so rich, so wonderful; it was better than music.  
“You are awfully cocky” The Hunter smirked.  
“Look who’s talking”  
“At least I am somewhat aware of my limitations”  
“And so am I”  
“If I am frank” Vegvísir chimed in “I don’t think either of you have that wisdom. If you did, Glint and I would be rendered obsolete”  
“You should be thankful for such recklessness then” Idun said spryly to his Ghost, reaching out to gently poke her shell “Or you would be running so called ‘intelligence’ operations on the exciting daily life of a hive thrall. Although, I bet it’s mostly screaming”  
“Not necessarily. Ever noticed how we only ever hear them scream when we shoot them?” Glint retorted “Perfectly reasonable reaction”  
“Can’t argue with that” Idun admitted with a shrug and drank more. He sensed Crow was staring at him. He had a particular way of scanning other’s movements, as if studying every shift and change in someone’s physiognomy. During their first days working together, it had made Idun very uncomfortable.  
“Looks like you are getting familiar with the taste quite quickly,” Crow observed, his hands clasped loosely on his lap.  
“Too familiar,” Vegvísir noted with some minor disdain.  
“Vísi, can you please let me have this?” Idun asked his Ghost with both exhaustion and amusement.  
Vegvísir hummed, her personal equivalent to a sound of reluctant acceptance.  
“Fine, but if I see you losing your way, I’ll tell you”  
“I wouldn’t expect any different” Idun directed a kind gaze to his Ghost before she dissipated.  
“She is a little...uptight” Glint commented, not moving from Crow’s shoulder “Meaning no offense of course, just an observation.”  
“Vegvísir is just protective” Idun stated. “She has nothing to worry about, though. I don’t frequently consume any alcohol, I just didn’t want you to drink alone, Crow”  
“Really?” Crow asked with playful irony “Are you always this considerate or am I just special?”  
Idun laughed lightly, hiding the nervousness that Crow’s question had sparked. He would call himself an expert at masking his true emotions behind his plain purple gaze and a soft-spoken demeanor he had developed especially for this, regardless of his distinct accent. But Crow’s presence always made the holes on his self-built walls all the more noticeable. It was as irritating as it was unavoidable and it compressed itself into a bittersweet sensation that was very similar to tachycardia.  
“You are definitely special in many ways…” Idun admitted, giving the 'wine' back to Crow without looking at him “The Light...it clearly likes you”  
“Likes...me?” Crow took the bottle carefully, taken aback by Idun’s wording.  
“Yes. I have seen you fight during the hunts…” Wanting to avoid fidgeting as much as he could, Idun directed his attention down at his hand and produced a cube made out of arc bolts. It twitched and cackled like hundreds of small whips, following its own sense of rhythm. “You are specially gifted”  
“Hmph” Crow huffed as his eyes fixated on Idun’s little prestidigitation “I got to disagree with you there”  
“Why? Aren’t you confident in your own abilities? Because, if you are not, consider me surprised”  
“I know I can handle myself. I know I can do what Lightbearers usually do but...gifted?” He swirled the liquid inside the glass bottle “That's too much”  
Idun changed the shape of the arc bolts to an octahedron “You can use a Golden Gun much better than some extremely experienced Hunters I’ve met”  
“Maybe, but that is all I can do” Crow took a swig and Idun noticed this one was considerably heavier than the others.  
“I remember…” he continued, composing himself after swallowing the alcohol “Seeing other Hunters, doing all kinds of things with many different elements, many of which were used against me. I have tried to replicate it but I cannot figure out how”  
“All Guardians start with only one type of Light that they are most akin with” Idun explained, switching the shape again, this time to a prism “It is unknown why this is, but it happens to everybody. I might have used Solar power to light the fire, but I didn’t know what that even was until I met other Warlocks”  
“What did you start with?”  
“This” Idun showed his simple arc bolt structure to Crow. “I have always felt a...connection, if you could call it that, with Arc energy”  
“But see…” Crow spoke while staring at the prism “I cannot do that”  
“This is just a trick I do for children back in the City. It’s nothing special” Idun retracted the energy back into his body, making the bolts disappear.  
“But it shows a degree of great control over your Light” Crow muttered, lifting his head to be as close to the same height as Idun’s “I do not have that, I act on instinct and what I feel is right...”  
“You are Hunter, you can afford to not think.” Idun joked but Crow barely produced a chuckle.  
“I am not entirely kidding either.” Idun continued “Hunters are supposed to be quick”  
“I sort of inferred that from the speed at which they would shoot me” Crow sniggered. “You said that you learned from other Warlocks…”  
Idun nodded and Crow sighed.  
“You can see how that is difficult for me…”  
Idun hesitated whether or not he had to comfort him in some other way. A part of him wanted to wrap his arm around Crow and reassure him that those days were over, that they had ended now that he was free. He knew reality was the opposite, however, and the very last thing Crow needed were empty words of comfort. He was stronger than that, much stronger. In his short life as a Guardian, he had been through more than Idun ever had. He inhaled deeply.  
“That doesn’t diminish your talent, though. It just means that...well, you haven’t gotten the chance of learning. But you will, and when you do…” Idun took a deep breath ”I bet you’ll be an incredible Hunter, more than you are already”  
Idun couldn’t determine if the dark flush over Crow’s face that was visible even in the reduced light of the campfire came from the alcohol or his words. He did note, however, the soft smile that had emerged, not from his mouth, but from his eyes. Their golden hue was comparable to the flames they gazed at, except they were much warmer, much more alive, much more beautiful...  
“Teach me” Crow suddenly said, lifting his head once again and shifting his body towards Idun.  
“What?”  
“You are an experienced Guardian. You handle your Light expertly. You have worked with the Vanguard. You even managed to get control over the Darkness” Crow smiled and shrugged lightly “Who better than you?”  
The way in which Crow looked at him was familiar to Idun. It was a gaze filled with hope, optimism, admiration...Idun had looked at someone like that once, not too long ago, not enough...his face appeared without permission in Idun’s head. He immediately shook it off when he felt his heart ache at the memory.  
“I cannot”  
Crow’s smile dimmed.  
“Why not?”  
“For starters, I am not a Hunter.”  
“Yes, I could tell from the flamboyant robes and the shiny armor pieces and the bad habit of shooting beams of pure destruction from your hands and leaving nothing for the rest of us” Crow frowned “Why does it matter?”  
“The way in which we use our Light is vastly different, Crow” Idun stressed “I cannot teach you something that I don’t know”  
He perceived how Crow’s mind shuffled for a workaround for that problem. Idun went back to looking at the fire and the way in which it fought against the wind that kept beating against it, trying to not let painful words from a time gone play on repeat inside his head.  
“In that case...just teach me the things you know, I’ll figure out the rest one way or another” Crow insisted with desperate enthusiasm.  
“Crow, I am not sure that will work” Idun mumbled.  
“It’s bound to do something, Idun,” Crow insisted ”If I ever get to actually go to the Tower, I doubt they’ll be happy to see me. I don’t want to die from the first Titan that comes towards me with one of their hammers. Can you imagine that for a first impression?”  
Idun said nothing. He did want Crow to join him at the Tower one day. He could not hide in his nest forever and live in the same fear that had followed him ever since he was raised. He could not continue to pay the debts of a man that, as far as Idun was concerned, had died from Petra’s bullet to the heart.  
Idun scoffed.  
“Being completely honest...you do have a strong argument there.”  
“Of course I do” Crow began to gulp down the alcohol that remained in the bottle. It was far from a small amount. He threw the glass bottle to the side when he was done  
“But I am still not sure if what I can teach you could be of help. I have guided a couple of newly risen Warlocks in the past but you have to keep in mind that I am still a relatively young Guardian and I lack the knowledge t-” Idun paused and frowned “Crow? Are you okay?”  
In what had been a matter of seconds, Crow’s glance had become void and, even when his eyes stared at the fire, it was clear that they were actually looking at nothing.  
Idun got closer to him.  
“Crow” he called again, but his friend didn’t respond with words. Instead, Crow squinted and held tighter to the rock he sat on, trying to keep a firm grip on it. Idun noticed he was wobbling.  
“You really shouldn’t have drunk that so quickly...” he murmured with apprehension.  
Glint materialized, equally worried for his Guardian “Oh no...Crow, are...are you still with us?” the Ghost asked with concern. Floating closer to him.  
Suddenly, as if made of rag, Crow collapsed forward and down into the fire. Glint gasped loudly.  
Idun was quick. Before Crow fell down enough to the point of no return, Idun wrapped his arms around his body tightly, pulling him back. Death could be unimportant for a Guardian, but the experience of having your head burnt to a crisp would remain almost as painful as witnessing it.  
Idun sat as further away from the flames as possible, carefully bringing Crow closer and leaning his head against his chest to give him some support. The Hunter grunted, his eyes shut tightly.  
“Why...why did you allow me to do that?” He muttered, clearly nauseated, against Idun’s thin metal chest piece.  
“I didn’t allow you nor disallow you to do anything. You chose to drink that yourself” Idun reminded him, choosing to keep his voice soft despite the scolding, tightening his grip around Crow to guarantee he wouldn’t lose balance again.  
“Why did you allow me to have choices then?” Crow spoke again, not making any attempts to move.  
“Because it’s fun watching you make all the wrong ones” Idun taunted gently  
Crow growled.  
Glint approached them, still alarmed.  
“Maybe Vegvísir was right. Maybe that wine was poisoned after all”  
“It’s not poison, the alcohol just went to his head too quickly” Idun explained “He is just drunk, he is going to be fine”  
“Ugh...Shoot me” Crow complained punily between growls.  
“Don’t be dramatic, just give your body some time to understand whatever the hell you just did” Idun chuckled. “I’ll stay here”  
The cracking of the fire, the howling of the wind, and the many different noises from a night in the wilderness rapidly replaced what was once a spot taken up by their conversation. Now and then, the subtle symphony of nature was interrupted by Crow’s grunts.  
Idun pressed his mouth into a line as he moved his right hand up with uncertainty towards Crow’s head. He lightly caressed his dark hair, testing out how safe it was to do so before going any further with it. He felt Crow tense up when his head was touched and, for a moment, Idun feared he had done something very wrong, but barely a couple of seconds after, Crow seemed to relax as a long and subdued exhale left him. Idun interpreted this as a good sign. With scantily less doubt, he passed his fingers through the trimmed half of Crow’s hairstyle; he found himself enjoying the spiky texture of the shorter hairs against his hand.  
Silence fell again, and soon the caresses became an automatic and absent-minded series of actions once Idun had retreated into his head once again.  
Crow’s request went through his mind, and it was followed by an assembly line of thoughts and memories that wanted to take Idun back to his early days as a Guardian. Maybe, just this once, he could allow them

_He wears beaten blue robes, a broken helmet, uncomfortable boots. His auto rifle keeps jamming, he can’t figure out how to properly use his shotgun yet. He returns from patrol duty out in Mercury. Ikora asked him to get information on the Vex activity there. Information he acquired, piece by piece, he could not recover much when the Vex kept killing him with the same ease one kills a bug.  
He is beyond exhausted. He bears the Light yet feels drained of any other type of energy. How do other Guardians do it? Vegvísir had told him his Light was strong and Idun had expected that using his powers how they were meant would be easier than finding increasingly sketchy ways of surviving in the cruel Icelandic winter he had been resurrected in. He had once expected to be able to rest once he got to that City his Ghost had told him so much about. When he arrived, the new gear he was promised had been handed down, a gun was placed in his hands and he was sent out in a fireteam of much more experienced Guardians that only taught him that missions were less about teamwork and more about keeping up. No one stops to explain anything to him. Was he supposed to know?  
Perhaps there is something wrong with him, perhaps the Traveler was wrong to choose him. It’s easy for others around him, why does he find it so difficult? How could he figure out his place as a Guardian when he doesn’t even know how to fire a rocket launcher without killing himself in the process. Is he missing something obvious? Is he so stupid? Is he so worthless?  
“Here it is” The gunsmith tells him, placing the auto rifle in front of Idun “I made some slight modifications so the jamming doesn’t happen so often.”  
Idun sighs and mutters a ‘thank you’ to the forgetful Exo that still keeps intact know-how of guns. There isn’t much else Idun can do other than hoping he eventually discovers how to be...somebody, something, anything. Is there a guide on how to be a proper Warlock? Is there a manual on how to be a competent Guardian? Will he find that which would tell him how to be enough?  
“Is that what you are using for vanguard duty?” The man next to him asks as soon as Idun grabs his pitiful gun from the counter.  
Idun just nods.  
The man turns to face him. An Exo. A thin face of silver and teal with inquisitive green eyes. He is tall, but not quite as tall as Idun, rarely somebody is.  
“I just replaced my main kinetic. I am here to pick it up since I asked Banshee to mod a couple of things to make it just a tiny bit more efficient” The Exo continues. He has a harmonic and silvery voice. He proceeds to take out a white pulse rifle from his back “This Lincoln is still a good gun though, better than most...I really did not want to dismantle it, we have been through a lot”  
Idun feels the Exo look him up and down. He assumes he is being judged.  
“Now I don’t have to do it” The man extends the weapon towards Idun “Here, you can have it. It’ll be infinitely more useful than whatever that is you are using”  
Idun stares in noticeable disbelief at both the gun and its owner.  
“Wait, how much do you want for it?” He asks.  
The Exo shakes his head  
“I am not selling it, it’s a gift. There’s no catch”  
Idun still can’t believe him. Most Guardians he has met mostly ignore him. And now this one gives him an amazing gun unprompted. The Exo probably reads the suspicion in Idun’s face.  
“I was a newly risen too. All Guardians are at some point, of course. Some, sadly, forget how hard the early days can be.” He gives Idun a firm nod “I refuse to”  
Not without hesitation, Idun takes the pulse rifle. He passes his hand around the gun with infinite care, as if it was a living and breathing thing.  
“Thank you…” Idun finally says with a smile. He recalls how deep his gratitude goes.  
“What’s your name, fellow Warlock?” The Exo asks him, his green eyes locking with Idun’s purple ones. The direct eye contact paralyses him for a moment and he stutters for a moment before he can reply.  
“Idun Svanur, or...just Idun, whatever you prefer”  
“It’s a beautiful choice of name.” The Exo praises “ The kind of names that have a story to them. Is it Nordic?”  
Idun nods and keeps his face down while holding a shy grin. He hopes the blushing on his cheeks isn’t noticed. He would later learn it is.  
“What...what about you?”  
“Jonas. Jonas-7” _

The vibrations of Crow’s humming against him were enough to take Idun out of the Tower and back into the campfire in the EDZ. He looked down at Crow without moving his fingers from his head, only to find the other Awoken looking up back at him through half-lidded eyes with some strands of silky black hair laying on top of his face. Even drunk and dizzy, he was a sight to behold.  
“How are you feeling?” Idun asked gently.  
“Like the rest of garbage in Spider’s lair”  
Idun smiled.  
“Want me to take you back to your base?”  
“My ‘crow’s nest’ like Glint would say?” He chuckled weakly and then sighed “I’d appreciate it.”  
Idun let go of Crow, but Crow did not let go of Idun, in fact, he barely moved from his place.  
“I did not say right now, though,” Crow clarified.  
“Wouldn’t you rather rest somewhere more comfortable?” Idun was intrigued by Crow’s sudden reluctance to move. He was never a lazy type, not even when intoxicated.  
Crow raised himself up slightly to lay his head on Idun’s shoulder, burying his face in the crook of the other Awoken’s neck. “You are far more comfortable than that old sleeping bag”  
Idun could now clearly perceive Crow’s breathing against his skin, the sensation of the tender exhales caressing it was enough to send warm shivers to every nerve ending in his body. His body pressed against Idun’s, he could feel the weight of Crow’s arms wrapped around his torso. He took air in sharply. It had been so long since he shared this level of intimacy with somebody, so very long, maybe even too long...  
Crow trusted him, clearly. If there were any doubts left regarding that, they had all dissipated in that instant. Idun was more than a friend to him, he was someone he looked up to, someone he could be vulnerable with after being forced to protect himself time and time again from outside aggression he did not understand. Crow had experienced all the worst things that a young Lightbearer could...and yet, he was still so hopeful, so anxious to help, so eager to be enough…  
“Crow” Idun called in what could barely be considered a whisper.  
“Hm?”  
“I will...I will teach you, as best as I can...”  
Silence took over a couple of moments, only broken by Crow’s low sigh.  
“You don’t have to, Idun...I don’t want to put you in that position” Crow burrowed himself deeper against his neck “I can handle myself well enough, I’ll understand the rest eventually”  
“No... I will do it, I...I..want to do it”  
It was a challenge to keep his composure with Crow so close to him. He wanted to relax around Crow the same way he let go of his own anxiety around Idun. But he couldn’t. He resented that he couldn’t, but Crow didn’t have to know this and Idun buried it as deeply as he was able to for the time being.  
“Really?”  
“Really,” Idun reassured.  
Which were once the evening stars now stood high up in that deep blue dome of the night. They had joined their sisters and drawn with their existence the arm of the Milky Way. Millions and millions of suns out there, burning incandescently through the void of the vacuum of space to overcome the infinite darkness of the universe. Light truly lived in the most peculiar places, and it had chosen each one of those for a reason…  
“Idun…” Crow called in the same voice people spoke with in dreams “Thank you…for everything”.


End file.
